{"id":214124,"date":"2026-06-17T13:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/france-beat-senegal-3-1-as-mbappe-opens-2026-world-cup-account-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:31:24","slug":"france-beat-senegal-3-1-as-mbappe-opens-2026-world-cup-account-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/france-beat-senegal-3-1-as-mbappe-opens-2026-world-cup-account-live-updates-and-reaction-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"France beat Senegal 3-1 as Mbappe opens 2026 World Cup account: Live updates and reaction – The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Cup
FIFA World
Cup 2026
LIVE
1m ago<\/span>
LIVE
1m ago<\/span>
Advertisement
France shrugged off a slow start and a controversial penalty decision to beat Senegal 3-1 in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup.<\/strong>
Kylian Mbappe scored the opener after he was denied a penalty despite VAR sending the referee to the monitor, before Bradley Barcola doubled France\u2019s lead with a delightful chip.
Paris Saint-Germain teenager Ibrahim Mbaye pulled one back for Senegal in stoppage time, only for Mbappe to immediately restore the two-goal lead with a thumping strike.
Senegal were left to rue a number of missed opportunities in the first half, including Nicolas Jackson hitting the post and Ismaila Sarr inexplicably blazing over the crossbar from point-blank range.
Mbappe entered Euro 2024 with a bang \u2014 but not the one he would have wanted. Two years tomorrow he broke his nose during France\u2019s 1-0 win against Austria in their opening group game. Sleepless nights and teenage mutant ninja-styled masks followed as he had to wear protection for his next appearance against Poland.
This time round, Mbappe's World Cup has begun with a bang of a very different kind.
Senegal's next World Cup outing will also be on June 22, when they take on Norway at 8pm ET at MetLife Stadium in Group I.
The tournament favourites are back in World Cup action on June 22 when they face Iraq in Philadelphia at 5pm ET and will look to consolidate their control of the group by registering back-to-back victories in Group I.
In his post-match press conference today, Didier Deschamps said France will try to avoid taking Iraq lightly, via my colleague Michael Dominski:💬
💬 \u201cThe players will rest (between now and then). We've managed the small (fitness) issues we have. We've tried to not underestimate Iraq. But gaining three points in this first match is great.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Didier Deschamps<\/strong> was asked about the MetLife Stadium playing surface, which looked patchy and rough from the press box. At first he smiled and said he wasn't sure he would answer the question, but he quickly changed his mind.
💬 \u201cIt's a special surface, it's different for sure. We need to get used to this for sure. There might be some cement below the grass. You have very short shards of grass here.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cBut we do adjust. This does create a change but we take these technicalities into account.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Informed that William Saliba <\/strong>said he told the players off during half-time, Deschamps smiled and played down the characterization of the message he delivered to his players when the match was level 0-0 at the break.
💬 \u201cI wouldn't say 'tell off' but I'm frank with my players and tell things how they are. We didn't have the best first half. We could've done better, much better. I'm not here shouting and screaming. I've grown wiser with age. But I do tell the players how I feel. They needed to make better decisions defending and attacking.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Deschamps lauded Kylian Mbappe's two-goal performance and defended him against some of the criticism he receives.
💬 \u201cPeople will still criticise him. He's an iconic player, I've always said that. He will miss a game or two but he can really tip a game and bring his team to victory.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cPeople will say he won't defend. He's not here to defend but he can defend.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cIn this stadium he's got a global aura due to his decisive talent.<\/em><\/strong>
More from Deschamps on his captain:
\u201cIf he wants to miss (his chances in) the first half and score two goals in the second half again, that's OK with me.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cHe missed two balls in the first half but he knows what the World Cup is about. He's not a player who doubts his abilities.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cHe could have scored four or five goals, theoretically, but we're happy with two.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
France head coach Didier Deschamps was upbeat when speaking after his team's win:
💬 \u201cIt's great to win the first match against a great team. We had our challenges, Senegal's team was compact, dense, with the capacity to move swiftly. There's always a danger lurking. We made mistakes, small errors. In the second half we greatly improved.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Asked what this World Cup means to Africa, Senegal head coach Thiaw<\/strong> responded:
💬 \u201cIt's the best competition, it's the World Cup, and for Africa, it means something. We need to sell our football even better. We have 10 countries playing in this tournament, which is great.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cWe need to keep going. We didn't start with flying colors, we need to focus for the next match.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Several of the African teams have gotten off to a great start here, with a victory for Ivory Coast and impressive draws for Cape Verde, Morocco and Egypt.
Asked what lessons he learned from this defeat, Senegal<\/strong> head coach Pape Thiaw<\/strong> focused on looking ahead.
💬 \u201cMy players are competitive. they know there are two matches still to play.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cNorway is a tough team to play, we know that. We're in a World Cup, all the teams are strong.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cIt's been a long time since we've lost the first match in a competition. We need to focus on taking six points in the next two matches.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cThis match is behind us. We have to look forward.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Senegal<\/strong> head coach Pape Thiaw<\/strong> rued his team's missed chances in the first half.
💬 \u201cWhen you look at the match overall, if we had been more efficient we could have led by one or two at half-time.<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cWe did commit some mistakes. On (France's) opportunities we lost the ball. With the technical capabilities they have, we could not do this.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Asked if he regretted the low block his team employed, he responded, \u201cWe wanted to win this match, you could see that on the pitch.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Kylian Mbappe<\/strong>'s double today against Senegal has lifted him above Pele, Just Fontaine and Lionel Messi (for now) in the all-time rankings for the most World Cup goals. He\u2019s joint third on 14 with Gerd M\u00fcller and is just two strikes away from first-place Miroslav Klose, who has 16 goals.
If France reach the final, Mbappe will get to play another seven games at this tournament, giving him ample opportunity to break it.
Even if he doesn\u2019t beat it this time around, he is still only 27 years old and has plenty of time to eclipse it in the future. Although I doubt that thought has entered Mbappe\u2019s mind. He will want that record as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Here's a sampling of our readers' reactions to Kylian Mbappe<\/strong>'s two-goal performance. I'm inclined to agree with Ayon: Mbappe was not at his best today, failing to corral a pair of through balls in the first half that would have put him in on goal, but in the end two moments of brilliance more than made up for it.
What did you make of Mbappe's performance ? Let us know on our discussion page<\/a>!
France<\/strong> attempted just one shot in the first half, which was their lowest total in a World Cup group stage match since Opta began analysing the competition in 1966.
They also registered only 0.02 Expected Goals and had only three touches in the opposition box before the break.
It was some turnaround in the second half.
In the end, France exercised their embarrassment of riches effectively by outscoring Senegal in every attacking metric thanks to a rejuvenated second-half display.
Our live blog for the games between Iraq and Norway, which kicked off at 6pm ET in Boston, is now up and running<\/a>.
Can either side join France and take maximum points from their opening group fixture?
At 18 years and 143 days old, Senegal<\/strong>'s Ibrahim Mbaye<\/strong> became the youngest African goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history, according to Opta.
And a superb finish it was too!
On first viewing, it appeared that Sadio Mane<\/strong> wiped out Kylian Mbappe<\/strong> in the penalty area with the scores at 0-0 in the second half and that France should be awarded a penalty.
It looked the same on the second, and the third.
VAR was introduced to end the howler, the decision that was so obviously wrong that it made no sense not to correct the error instantly, and this was a classic example of the genre.
So I was as baffled as everyone else watching when Iranian referee Alireza Faghani<\/strong> decided to stick with his on-field decision that there was nothing to see here.
Faghani, who lives in Australia and operates on the A-League, is setting records by officiating in his fourth World Cup, and was tipped for the final in Qatar before a disappointing performance in the group stages.
Given Fifa's usual policies in relation to clear errors of this nature, this may be his last match.
Former France Under-21 manager Thierry Henry has been speaking about Michael Olise<\/strong>, who he previously coached, on Fox Sports:
💬 \u201cHe is a dream come true. He doesn\u2019t play the game, he thinks the game… Michael Olise has an impact on games that I cannot explain. If you make one mistake of not being aware of what he\u2019s going do, he will punish you with a pass.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
Unsurprisingly, France<\/strong>\u2019s attacking quality eventually overwhelmed their opponents, with Michael Olise<\/strong> and Kylian Mbappe<\/strong> combining to devastating effect to open the scoring. Bradley Barcola\u2019s delicious dink put the icing on the cake for France, who clicked into another gear in the second half, which Senegal simply couldn\u2019t handle.
You would expect the 2018 winners to also overcome Iraq and Norway in Group I. The popular opinion is that France are probably the favourites to win the competition, given their quite frankly ridiculous squad depth and individual talent. However, that suspect first-half performance indicates that they\u2019re far from perfect and are definitely beatable.
Senegal have shown they\u2019re a tremendously competitive and determined side. On another day, they could have been ahead at half-time, if you think back to Nicolas Jackson\u2019s strike, which hit the post, and Ismalia Sarr\u2019s poor close-range finish.
Pape Thiaw\u2019s men look very capable and have got their hardest group game out of the way. The knockouts are still very much on the cards for them. <\/p>\n

Team Stats
FRA
SEN
Game Details<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World CupFIFA WorldCup 2026LIVE1m agoLIVE1m agoAdvertisementFrance shrugged off a slow start and a controversial penalty decision to beat Senegal 3-1 in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup.Kylian Mbappe scored the opener after he was denied a penalty despite VAR sending the referee to the monitor, before Bradley Barcola doubled France\u2019s lead with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-214124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}